Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R Wheels Win Innovation Award

Who knew you could get so excited about wheels? But then again, when it comes to Ford’s Mustang Shelby GT350R what is there not to be excited about.

In this case though, we’ll just talk about its wheels because they just won a 2016 Best of What’s New Auto Award in Popular Science magazine. The magazine hands them out to 100 new tech products in a bunch of new categories. To win a category, the product has to be innovative and a big step forward.

The 2016 Shelby GT350R took home its award thanks to its ultralight carbon-fiber wheels. It’s the first of their kind on a production car according to Ford. What makes the two front wheels so cutting edge is that they are insulated with a ceramic thermal barrier coating adapted from technology similar to what NASA used on the space shuttle.

The other big part of this equation is that they’re light, too. Each 19-inch carbon-fiber wheel weighs about 15 pounds less than an equivalently sized aluminum wheel, so you get better vehicle acceleration and handling. The wheels will run you $3,433-$4,053 each.